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First of all, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman. for inviting me to attend the 16th Convocation Ceremony, and to deliver a speech, at this momentous and meaningful occasion.

2. I wish to extend my heartiest and most sincere congratulations to all the graduates on this joyous occasion, as we celebrate your moments of joy, pride and honour when you receive your coveted degrees from UTAR. Your achievements today are only made possible by your exemplary commitment and perseverance in striving to achieve success.

The seriousness of the happenings in Sabah particularly in Lahad Datu are matters which are of urgent concern and foreboding because if this can happen in Sabah today it can endanger its future.

All Malaysians and understandably particularly our Sabah brothers must be alarmed and concerned with the failure of securing our borders and safety of our sovereignty from foreign invasion. The seizure of Malaysian territory without any prior knowledge or measures to prevent this from happening must be of deep concern. The integrity and safety of Sabah is challenged as never before.

I am singularly honoured to have been invited by Rotary District 3300 to deliver the keynote address marking its 78th Annual Conference.

2. We know that Rotary brings together leaders from all walks of life to provide services with very high ethical standards in accordance with the organization’s credo of Service Above Self. We also know that these services helped contribute towards the building of peace and goodwill across the world. We never tire of admiring Rotary for the movement’s exemplary arrangement to draw Rotarians from all walks of life – enterprise, public service, the professions and politics. Given that Rotarians are leaders in their own right, I thought, therefore, it is apt if I were to spend some time and share with you my thoughts on leadership.

Thank you very much for inviting me for this evening’s get-together to share with you an evening of dinner as food for thought. I’m deeply honoured to be the first invitee which I believe will be followed by others for a similar evening.

2.It is not often that we get an opportunity to share our thoughts and experiences in a visible and open manner as tonight. This is not because there is an unwillingness but the reality of our society exists today make it difficult for honest and fearless exchange of ideas. There is in my view an increasing closing of the minds and public space for exchange of experiences. One of the main preconditions of democracy and the intellectual development of our country is the creation of the atmosphere where free exchange of ideas is not constrained by fear or unreasonable legal constraints.

It is a pleasure and an honour for me to deliver this conference keynote address this morning. Let me first and foremost thank the organisers, in particular, Dr. Zakariah Abdul Rashid, for extending this invitation to me. The timing of this conference could not have been better. As I was thinking about this speech two weeks back, China announced its plan to relax procedures for direct and portfolio investments. This just verifies that Malaysia is not alone in this environment of challenging economic fundamentals. We all have our ailments, some are more numerous than others, some are more serious than others. This is the state of affairs of the Asian region today.

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